The present invention relates to an endoscopic procedural device for performing surgical procedures with tissue or the like of a body while being inserted into a body cavity through a forceps-channel of an endoscope.
For example, an endoscopic procedural device is provided with a flexible insert section that can be inserted through a forceps-channel of an endoscope. An operating wire is inserted in the interior of the insert section along its axial direction in such a way that the wire can freely moved forward or backward. The operating wire is connected not only to an operating section at a proximal end of the insert section, but to a procedural member at a distal end of the insert section. With such a construction, the operating wire is moved forward or backward and the procedural member is opened or closed in response to operations of the operating section.
Endoscopic procedural devices of this kind have been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,666,965 and 5,133,727, and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 10-118089 and 10-179601.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,666,965 and 5,133,727, and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-118089A, a connecting structure, in which a procedural member and an operating wire inserted though an insert section so that the wire can freely moved forward or backward, are connected, the operating wire is passed through a hole formed in a procedural member and a distal end of the operating wire that has passed through the hole is sharply bent and fixed on the procedural member. In Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-179601, link wires are respectively passed through a pair of connecting holes formed at the proximal end sides of respective procedural members and both ends of each link wire are fixed on a distal end of an operating wire.
However, in the connecting structure of the former documents, as shown in FIG. 33, in a case where an endoscopic procedural device a is inserted through an inside hole of a forceps-channel c of the endoscope b and a procedural member d is protruded into a body cavity, an inner surface of the forceps-channel channel c is heavily damaged and in the worst case, a hole is opened through the wall portion of the forceps-channel to destroy the endoscope b by an edge f of the distal end of the operating wire e for opening or closing of the procedural member d if the endoscope b is bent and thereby, the forceps-channel c is curved like an arc with a large radius of curvature. In this case, such troubles may lead to significant repair costs.
Further, in the connecting structure of the latter document, since two pieces of link wires are virtually connected to one procedural member and two procedural members are activated with the four pieces of link wires in total, movements of the endoscopic procedural device becomes heavy due to excessively high rigidity of the link wires and the operability feeling is problematically deteriorated.